SUNDAY 5 AUGUST, 2018 – UWI TODAY
3
T h e t e r m ‘ Ur b a n
Gre ening’
embr ace s
activities such as public
l ands caping and the
creation of urban forestry
t hat s e ek t o ‘g re en’
and soften the urban
landscape and make it,
as they say, more ‘people
friendly’. These greening
i n i t i a t i v e s i n c l u d e
planting road verges and
islands with indigenous vegetation, removal of alien
species, upgrading of parks and gardens in inner city
areas, development of urban trails passing through
green areas, and getting landscape architects to design
or redesign inner city areas to reflect a more natural and
green surrounding.
Urban greening provides one other, perhaps
more important benefit than just ‘softening’ the urban
character of our surroundings. Its ecological impact
offsets the deleterious effect of urbanisation and
industrialisation on the environment and on human
health. I have often made the point that every building
that is erected potentially increases the level of flooding
in lower areas, unless adequate provision is made to
handle water runoff.
The more our country turns into a concrete jungle,
the worse it becomes. In contrast, trees extract water
from the ground and help control water saturation and
flooding. Greening is considered as one approach to
mitigate the human health consequences of increased
temperatures that result from climate change.
And that’s not all. Researchers at Columbia
University have found a high correlation between the
increase in tree population in urban neighbourhoods
and a lower incidence of asthma. Just consider how
miserable life recently has been for many of us due to the
Saharan dust. Trees capture airborne particles such as
dirt, dust and soot. As students of biology would know,
they clean the air by absorbing greenhouse gases that
contribute to global warming, storing carbon dioxide,
the primary greenhouse gas, in their stems and leaves.
Indeed, I am told that two medium-sized, healthy trees
can supply the oxygen required for a single person for
a year.
In May 2017, Trinidad and Tobago registered
its first “green” building when a flagship commercial
development was opened in Port of Spain. The
building, Savannah East, was designed and built in an
environmentally responsible manner and promotes
recycling, encourages sustainable energy through the
use of rainwater to flush fixtures, condensate water
from the air-conditioning system to irrigate the green
spaces in the building, insulated windows and roofing
to reduce heat transfer, and the creation of energy every
time the elevator is used. Our architects, contractors,
and planning officials should encourage this approach!
Research has also uncovered some unexpected
benefits of urban greening. Three scientists in the US:
Jody Rosenblatt Naderi, Byoung-SukKweon and Praveen
Maghelal, presented empirical findings froma pilot study
on street trees and their effect on driving behaviour,
safety perception and speed in urban or suburban
areas. They surmised that tree-lined streets are safer in
both urban and suburban areas. In addition, individual
driving speeds were significantly lower in the suburban
settings with trees. In other words, trees calm traffic
and reduce the frequency and severity of crashes. This
research suggests that, quite apart from the aesthetic
appeal, there is validity – from a safety perspective – in
having trees on our streets and highways. Youmay recall
there was a bit of an outcry when the trees lining the
median of the highway between Curepe and Valsayn,
were removed. I am therefore pleased to note thatWorks
and Transport Minister, Rohan Sinanan, has promised
that trees will be replanted once the new interchange is
completed.
At The UWI, we do recognize the fact that in all
possible future scenarios, including even any description
of a worst-case scenario, we have to take care of the
environment in which we live.
This is the gist of what I said at the launch of a
reforestation project, where we joined with Hillview
College, the Forestry Division, and the UWI Biological
Society as the National Herbarium marked its 200th
anniversary by planting 200 trees on the denuded hillside
to the north of the College.
It was a small start to building that sustainably
developed future but it was a start, nonetheless and
an example that I hope other schools across Trinidad
and Tobago will follow. We were delighted to have
Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley join us, as he has also
encouraged the planting of our national flower, the
Double Chaconia, in schools nationwide.
Bringing an appreciation of greenery in our urban
landscapes is one way we can secure a sustainable
ecological future. We all have to act, to do something
one way or the other, to ensure that this future will exist.
There is no better time to plant that tree than now.
FROM THE PRINCIPAL
PROFESSOR BRIAN COPELAND
Campus Principal
The Best Time to Plant a Tree
It is hard to imagine
that this bucolic scene was actually
what the Churchill Roosevelt Highway once was maybe half a
century ago. This image is from a postcard bearing a 15-cent
stamp that featured both the Trinidad and Tobago Coat of
Arms and an image of the Queen of England – suggesting a
post-Independence and pre-Republican period. The postcard
comes from the Michael Goldberg Collection, one of several
held and now digitized at the Alma Jordan Library. This was the
first digitized collection to be placed in The UWI Institutional
Repository. We found it so beautiful it was featured on the cover
of our April 2016 issue.
There is nothing on the card indicating the geographical
location of this stretch of the Highway, but it is most likely
between the Curepe traffic lights and those at Valsayn.
Unfortunately, the magnificent pouis that have been on this site
have been completely erased from the landscape they adorned
for more than 50 years.
Hillview College’s Principal, Leslie Mahase is the anchor man while
Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley did the spadework as they planted a
Chaconia under the watch of the MP for Tunapuna, Esmond Forde, at
the launch of the reforestation project which was part of the National
Herbarium’s celebration of its 200th anniversary.
EDITORIAL TEAM
CAMPUS PRINCIPAL
Professor Brian Copeland
DIRECTOR OF MARKETING
AND COMMUNICATIONS
Dr Dawn-Marie De Four-Gill
EDITOR
Vaneisa Baksh
email:
CONTACT US
The UWI Marketing and
Communications Office
Tel: (868) 662-2002, exts. 82013 / 83997
or email:
PHOTO: COURTESY THE WEST INDIANA SECTION OF
THE ALMA JORDAN LIBRARY, UWI ST. AUGUSTINE.
THE BULLDOZERS OF HISTORY
